Lauren Reeve-Rawlings Ian Smith Helena Jacklin Stephanie Jones
The Rookh Quartet began life in 2017 when four of Scotland’s horn players decided to get together regularly to explore – and expand – the horn quartet repertoire. The original plan did not involve doing any concerts – the idea was to get together regularly, to enjoy playing chamber music. This changed when the University of Glasgow offered the Rookh Quartet a lunchtime concert, and the group has since gone on to play in venues and festivals that include The Cathedral of the Isles, soundfestival, and Orkney’s St Magnus Festival, as well as joining players from the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Scottish Opera for the International Horn Society’s annual event in 2021. The first concert also gave the group their name, as they gave the first performance of Jane Stanley’s Lalla Rookh, for natural horn, two horns, and narrator. The piece is based on a letter written by a former University of Glasgow staff member and amateur horn player, William Thomson … also known as Lord Kelvin. The letter was written as he was anchored in the harbour of Funchal, Madeira, on board the Lalla Rookh. Lord Kelvin’s natural horn can be found in the Hunterian Museum, in the room directly above the University’s Concert Hall. [Our picture shows the quartet with Andy Saunders, who Helena Jacklin replaces in this concert]
Gioacchino Rossin i: Le Rendez-vous de Chasse Lynda Nicholson: Pandemic 2020 Lynda Nicholson: Skye Boat Song Bernhard Weber: Quartet no. 1 Johann Störl : Two sonatas Interval Gaetano Donizetti: Sinfonia Violeta Dinescu: Abendandacht (Evening Prayer) Richard Wagner: Ankunft bei den schwarzen Schwänen (Arrival of the black swans) Richard Wagner: Gebet des Rienzi (Rienzi’s Prayer) Drew Hammond: Soliloquy Friedrich Homilius: Horn Quartet
